


the witching hours

by oogenesis



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Eerie, M/M, probably the fic i'm most proud of so far
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-19
Updated: 2016-08-19
Packaged: 2018-08-09 16:31:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7809058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oogenesis/pseuds/oogenesis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Noon and midnight are when the boundaries between worlds grow thin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the witching hours

**Author's Note:**

> some manipulation cw

It's hot today, and Yuuma wishes he could have stayed inside and eaten lunch in the cool dimness with Kotori and the rest. But Shingetsu had other plans.

"Come on, Yuuma," he calls, his feet skipping over the mirage-puddles on the hot blacktop. "You like eating on the roof, don't you -"

He seems entirely unconcerned by the heat that weighs Yuuma down, pulls at his clothes. Yuuma is panting and Shingetsu is flinging his arms out and spinning across the rooftop.

"Isn't this nice!" he says cheerfully into the hot stillness. "Just the two of us. No big groups, no endless talking." He is already across the roof, a dancing laughing figure in the shimmering heat. "I get you all to myself~"

Yuuma joins him near an air conditioning unit. Shingetsu sits down and begins unpacking his lunch with neat motions.

"Why are we up here?" asks Yuuma.

Shingetsu's hands go still and he looks up, his violet eyes wide and inquisitive. "You like eating on the roof, so I thought it would be best if we came up here together. It's sunny out, too, so that makes it extra nice!"

Yuuma supposes that makes sense, although he doubts the last part. His brain feels as though the heat has softened it inside his head like butter.

"And, well," says Shingetsu, tilting his head almost coyly, looking up through feathery lashes, "it's a little romantic, don't you think?" His arm slips inside Yuuma's, cool against Yuuma's hot and sweat-damp skin. "No one else is up here."

The sky is a blazing blue overhead and the cicadas are buzzing invisible around them. They are quite alone.

"Um, yeah," says Yuuma. "That's true."

Shingetsu's gaze travels to the Emperor's Key on Yuuma's chest and he frowns. "Do you always wear that?"

Yuuma's hand automatically goes to clutch at it. It's hot against his skin. "Of course!"

"So he can see you whenever?" Shingetsu tilts his head, concerned. "That seems a bit creepy, don't you think?"

"Huh?" Yuuma tries to process the statement. "What do you mean?"

"Well, don't you have any... privacy?"

Privacy has long ceased to be a concern for Yuuma and Astral. Yuuma thinks, sluggishly, that Shingetsu is wrong, but -

"Take it off," murmurs Shingetsu. He pulls Yuuma's arm closer to him and presses into his side. "Come on, just this once, please. I want to be alone with Yuuma-kun..."

Yuuma can't think of much else to say, so he pulls the key over his head and drops it into his pocket. He can feel the loud absence of it on his neck.

"That's better," says Shingetsu. His hand slides down Yuuma's arm and his fingers thread through Yuuma's fingers. "Here, why don't you sit down?"

Why not, thinks Yuuma through the heat and the lightness on his neck, and goes to do so. The next moment he springs up, the nerves in his body switch-flipped to life - the metal Shingetsu was so casually sitting on is burning hot from the sun.

There is a confused pinwheeling moment, hands - arms - the rooftop and the sky and then Shingetsu's face above him. It takes Yuuma a moment to realize that not only did Shingetsu get a hold of him when he was about to fall, but twirled him around and dipped him as though in a tango. They are frozen like this.

Somewhere in the hot hot heart of Heartland , a bell rings noon in grave and heavy notes.

"Caught youuu~" says Shingetsu, in a playful singsong that is low and secret. His face is in shadow against the blazing sun, and Yuuma's vision is still adjusting - the only feature he can make out is the glint of his eyes. He can _feel_ the strength in Shingetsu's slender arms and slight build, holding him up as though he weighs no more than the spirit tucked away in his pocket.

Yuuma feels a silver coldness shiver against his skin, his neck, and doesn't know why.

Then Shingetsu releases him, guiding him back to a standing position as though completing the dance. "Oops!" he says. "I didn't think it would be so hot, I'm sorry... Hey, Yuuma, you can sit on my lap if you want!" And a laugh bright like bells.

"Nah, I think I'll just stay standing," says Yuuma, and laughs too to shake off the coldness in his shoulders.

"It's the heat," pouts Shingetsu. "I should have brought a picnic blanket..."

"Kotori already has one, you could have just asked her -!"

"I thought it would best to come up here without disturbing anyone! Our secret...."

The sky is a blue domed oven above them and the sun hangs at the apex. In the multiplaned forest of Heartland's rooftops they are quite alone.

•

"Hey, Yuuma," says Shingetsu into the sleepy inside of the blanket fort, "who do you like?"

"Huh?" says Yuuma. "Why are asking me that?"

"It's a sleepover," says Shingetsu. His legs are pressed against Yuuma's, warm through the combined fabric of their pajamas. "Those are the kind of questions you ask at a sleepover."

"That's something girls do," protests Yuuma.

Shingetsu pinches him. "You don't really mean that! You're just avoiding the question. So! Who do you like?" He leans in conspiratorially. "Is it Kotori?"

Kotori is light like mint, like green tea, like a spring breeze. Yuuma likes her a lot, but - "Kind of," he says. "I'm, uh, not sure -"

Shingetsu's face is suddenly very close to his and Yuuma yelps. "So do you _like_ her?"

"I don't know!" says Yuuma, scrambling back and landing in pillows. There are pillows everywhere, because it is a blanket fort. "I don't think so."

"Hmm." Shingetsu sits back and pouts. "That's boring. So who is it really?" His head turns to face Yuuma and his eyes catch the light. "Is it it Astral?"

Yuuma feels himself go still and quiet at that. He picks at the hem of his pajama pants and doesn't answer. He is thinking.

"Come on!" Shingetsu elbows him. "It is, isn't it?"

Astral who is soft-sharp and slender-graceful and moon-jelly-glowing. Astral who has rosebud lips, if roses were baby blue and translucent. Astral whose hair looks soft and cool to put your hand into, and Yuuma wants to put his hand into it, wants to comb it through his fingers. He picks up the flashlight and lets its circle of light wander around the star pattern on the blanket over their heads. "I don't know," he says, but quieter than before. "Maybe."

Shingetsu leans against his shoulder like an insistent cat, and the circle of the flashlight skids down the side of the fort. "You can tell me! It's not like he'll hear us."

(The Emperor's Key is tucked in a pocket of Yuuma's backpack downstairs in the cupboard, in the dark quiet depths of the sleeping house.)

When Yuuma thinks of Astral there is something pure and joyous and good inside of him, like a warm lake of molten glass waiting waiting to be spun into the most beautiful crystalline shapes. He needs more time to let it take form, but - "I think so," he says. "I think so."

"Awww!" says Shingetsu, "that's _cute_." He hesitates then, as though stuck by a sudden thought. "Only... Astral's kind of like an alien, isn't he? Can he really... feel that way?"

He _can_ , is the first thought to rise to Yuuma's tongue, but - Yuuma doesn't know.

In the silence Shingetsu plucks the flashlight from Yuuma's hands and sends its beam in wide loops over the blankets. "Well," he says, "I know who _I_ like." He stops, as though waiting for Yuuma to play along and ask who, but when Yuuma doesn't respond picks up again, swinging the flashlight back and forth in an arc with each phrase. "He's cool and talented and a really awesome duelist, and even though he can be a bit dumb sometimes he's really fun to hang out with. Everyone loves him and if I dated him I'd be the luckiest guy in the school..."

"Sounds like a great guy," mumbles Yuuma, still thinking about Astral, and if Astral is able to -

"Yu-u-ma!" The flashlight is swung into his face and Yuuma yelps at the searing glare. "You big dummy, I'm talking about _you_!"

"Point that thing somewhere else!" is Yuuma's first reaction, followed by "Oh."

"Why are you surprised?" says Shingetsu. The flashlight is now pointed at the ground. "I've been so obvious."

Yuuma doesn't know if he's surprised or not. He's still thinking about Astral and Astral's rosebud lips and Astral's alien mind, alien heart, and the searing soreness behind his eyes from the flashlight, and Shingetsu whose face has become very close to his.

"Astral," he manages to say.

"What about him?"

"I don't know," says Yuuma, and Shingetsu's breath smells like the hot chocolate they had for dinner.

"Yuuma," says Shingetsu, soft and quiet, and that's his hand moving over Yuuma's hand, "do you like me?"

"Astral," says Yuuma again, managing to partially extract his previous thought from the muddle that is his brain, "he wouldn't -"

"Astral isn't here right now," says Shingetsu. "He wouldn't understand, anyway -" and Yuuma can taste the hot chocolate on his breath, can almost taste the marshmallows.

Astral might not - wouldn't - understand, and Shingetsu is so close and so soft in his blue pajamas - and Astral who is boy-shaped might not want to kiss Yuuma, who is a boy, whereas Shingetsu is right here and right now and -

The clock downstairs striking midnight rings out once, twice.

Yuuma almost jumps when their lips touch - just a little - even though he was expecting it - but he stays where he is. Shingetsu's lips are soft and Shingetsu's knees are touching his and he can hear both their breathing in his ears. He feels a little dizzy, a little weightless. He's never kissed anyone before.

When the twelfth recorded sound of a bell has chimed out Shingetsu pulls away softly, slowly. His hands are on either side of Yuuma's face and Yuuma wonders when they got there.

"Yuuma," says Shingetsu, his eyes searching Yuuma's face, "you won't tell Astral what just happened, will you?"

His hands have not moved from where they were. They seem to be almost gripping. Yuuma does not think he could move his head if he wanted to.

"No," says Yuuma.

"Good," says Shingetsu. The flashlight has fallen down behind him and his face is in shadow.

His voice is making Yuuma nervous.

"Good," says Shingetsu again, and then moves in and kisses Yuuma again - not like the previous time, but strong and sure, pressing in. There is an unease in Yuuma's gut.

"Astral wouldn't understand," says Shingetsu, and smooths some hair from Yuuma's forehead, his eyes intent on Yuuma's. "It'll be our secret, okay?"

Yuuma nods. He doesn't know what else to do.

"Oh!" says Shingetsu, and lets go of Yuuma's face. "I dropped the flashlight -" He turns to retrieve it, rummaging in the pillows, and when he resurfaces his face is brightly lit, open and carefree once more. "Found it!" He points it at Yuuma's face again. "Hey, Yuuma -"

"Ow!" says Yuuma, and jerks back. "I told you not to do that!"

"Sorry!" says Shingetsu, and points the flashlight away. "Hey Yuuma, you're a pretty good kisser!"

"I didn't even do anything!"

"Well," says Shingetsu, drawing his knees together. "I'd never kissed anyone before, so I don't know what it's like." He breaks into a grin. "But you were pretty good!"

"What do you mean pretty good?!"

"No tongue."

"Gross!"

"Exactly!"

In the quiet of the house and in the darkness of the cupboard the Emperor's Key slumbers downstairs, forgotten.

**Author's Note:**

> i know i say this on all my fics but PLEASE if you could leave a comment on this one it would mean a lot to me, i'm really proud of it and worked really hard and would _really_ appreciate feedback (especially since comments seem to be very very hard to come by on Yugioh Spinoff AO3 ;_;)


End file.
